Late, Late Night FDL: Come With Me Now

Drummer Jesse Kongos says that the band almost moved on to pushing new material before “Come With Me Now” caught fire.

Kongos, an Arizona-based quartet comprised of the four sons of South African singer-songwriter John Kongos, are racing up the charts with “Come With Me Now” — three years after its initial release. The accordion-tinged rock song reached a new peak on Billboard’s Alternative chart at No. 7 for the week ending March 9, in its seventh week on the tally. It’s the fastest-rising debut top 10 on the chart since Lorde’s “Royals” last July, and the fastest by a group since Flobots’ “Handlebars” in 2008.

Drummer Jesse Kongos says “Come With Me Now” was an early fan favorite two years ago, when the band was opening for Linkin Park in South Africa, where debut album “Lunatic” was released in 2011. The United States, however, took more time to crack. “There was about a year-and-a-half in America trying to get it going, and nothing was happening,” he says. “Then, all of a sudden, a few stations started to spin us, and that’s when it started to change.” {…}

“When it didn’t seem like things were getting going, we really lost heart — we were ready to move on to new material,” says Jesse Kongos. “We’re just happy we’re finally getting recognition.”